Who me

The claim has been made that a Christian ' Must ' show a changed life! I' m posting that not every person will have the opertunity to demonstrate a changed life. I also think you are confused about what happened durring Jesus and the two thieves crucifixion.

So how was the repentant thief's live transformed?

It is an example of what you asked for. Is a transformed life a sign of belief in God? NO it is not. As James says, demons believe in God and shudder. A transformed life is evidence of a changed heart, mind and spirit following conversion.

The point of the example of the repentant thief is that he had only hours until he died, being nailed to a cross he couldn't demonstrate a changed life.

When talking about being forgiven or forgiving others yes you are correct there Must be repentance. How much of a changed life did the repentant thief show while dying on the cross.

I'm sorry that your Father responded in this way. It is a very hurtful response. May I suggest you do your research as to why the evidence supports a belief in God and wait for an opportunity to ask him why he calls Christianity ' fairy tales ' ? Be prepared for him to dismiss you again with mockery and to be ready to respond with " So your contempt is unreasonable unthinking prejudice! " Do continue to pray for him and your Mother.

Gracy cannot be earned. But in the illustration the subject learnt his pardon by his changed life. Had he not changed he would not have been granted a pardon. In Christianity it is the other way round. We are pardoned and as a result our lives are changed.

And by those quot3s you too believe that not everyone will be saved.

So the women sit on one side and the men on the other side.

If your Dad is mocking your faith, pinching your cross he is making war on you. Do your research, learn the facts about Christianity and calmly ask your Father to either explain why he does not believe or to rational debunk the resurrection. As rational adults you can have a friendly debate and even set a time for when, what ever the state of play it ends.

In your illustration the condemned an has earned a pardon by his changed life. Grace is undeserved mercy. We have do e nothing to deserve God's mercy, we can do nothing g that will earn his mercy. God is tot just in not offering mercy to those who hate him and that is what sinners are, enemies of God.

The biblical greeting was to kiss, not shake hands. In the synagogue men sat in the main body and women were restricted to a rear area. Today it is women on one side and men on the other side of the building. Are you introducing this to your church?

There are two aspects of responding to your parents. To continue to show you love and value them. Your Fathers mocking your faith. To calmly ask him what does he believe? And to follow it with. What evidence do you have for that belief? Be sure that you can give a rational reason for your faith. This Web site has some challenging arguments:-https://winteryknight.com/2024/12/12/the-worst-mistake-you-can-make-when-defending-the-christian-worldview-9/ Other sites coldcasechristianity, toughquestionsanswered. Books by Lee strobel, the case for Christ. Do keep calm in the face of mockery, challenge him to give rational reasons for his views. Do continue to pray for them and to invite them to church functions.

James 1:14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Jesus commented that looking with lust was equal to adultery. There is no sin in being polite and shaking hands/hugging. If you were on the continen, France etc you would be treating men and women with a kiss. This thread says more about the problems of the poster than it does about biblically based behaviour.

Hell is an eternity of separation from God and from all the blessings of his presence. Heaven is an eternity with God with his blessings and without any of the problems, pains caused by sin. Gal5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. none of these will be found in hell.

Context is very important. From your post an atheist can say I believe there is no God, so I have external life. A nonsense statement but made possible by your quote mining.

Yes fire has a symbolic use, but it is a.so a picture of punishment, as revelation says ' those whose names are not written in the Lambs book of Life, where thrown into the lake of fire. Death has a meaning of separation from God. Adam ' died ' when he sinned, he was separated from God. So yes the wages of sin is separation from God. Not now in this life but in the one to come. That rules out annihilation. Yes God is making all things new, new in the new heaven and new earth for those who are his. That does not included those who are not his.

Thank you for your response and for confirming that the poster has the same views as an atheist. Maybe you should respond directly to the poster.

You used to have friends in school, reach out to them to re establish a friendship. You have hobbies, or can develop hobbies and they through clubs can be used to develop friendship. Through conversation, " the what did you do over the weekend? " type will enable you to mention going to church. Which will start establishing you as a ' holy Joe ' Friendship is a two way thing. A sharing of like, fellowship, common ideas and contrasting likes etc. You will have to put up with being tested, teased about your beliefs, but that gives you the opportunity to ask what do you believe and what evidence do you have for that belief? Just be sure you can give a rational response to those same questions. Have a look at this Web site for examples:-https://winteryknight.com/2024/12/12/the-worst-mistake-you-can-make-when-defending-the-christian-worldview-9/

Yet genesis 2 says - The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” 19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam[f] no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[g] and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib[h] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. That to be is fellowship. It was only after the fall that Adam was frightened by the sound of God in the garden.

No, there is nothing random in God's actions, if there was he would not be God. The randomness we perceive is because we see thing from a finite view point, we don't see it from the perspective of eternity. Remember Romans 8:28 All things work together for the good of those who are called a cording to his purpose.

The problem is always context. Here it is about the second coming, so we should understand this verse together with the coming, in his time, of Jesus. It a not mean that all will be saved. Rev 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Clearly say that there will be those excluded from God's presence. How should we understand, " God not wanting any to perish. " God is perfect. Perfect in justice and in mercy. We should remember he did not have to send Jesus, to have a plan of salvation. But he has a Ted with mercy and grace, that we don’t deserve and while he may not want, desire, people to perish he is just in Condeming all he does not save.

From your explanation of the genesis account of the creation of Adam, you do not believe in man being a spiritual being. Once dead there is nothing. So how can the dead be resurrected? Do you mean an animated corpse like a zombie or do you recognise that your comment was incorrect, that God breathed a spirit a soul into Adam.

From this you believe there is no life to come with Jesus in heaven. It renders why Jesus came to nothing more than a pointless gesture.

And if they are not synbolic?